Rodemacher Unit 3

Rodemacher Unit 3 is a coal plant under construction in Boyce, Louisiana.

In February 2006, Cleco Power began construction on a 600 megawatt (MW) expansion of its Rodemacher Power Station. The current Rodemacher Power Station has a capacity of 963 MW: Unit 1 has a capacity of 440 MW and fueled by natural gas and low-sulfur fuel oil, and Unit 2 has a capacity of 523 MW and is fueled by coal from the Powder River Basin. Two new units are being developed that will utilize circulating fluidized bed technology and burn petroleum coke and coal; the Shaw Group is running construction. Lignite coal and Wyoming coal will serve as backups.

In June 2006, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality issued an operating permit for the project. The plant is under construction, and in May 2008 Cleco announced the project was on budget and expected to be in service by October 2009.

According to the Sierra Club, Cleco Power will apply for approval with the Louisiana PSC to raise rates to cover construction costs.

As of November 2009, construction of the third unit at the plant was nearing completion and expected to go online in December 2009. The new unit cost over $1 billion to construct and Cleco received approval in early November 2009 from the Louisiana Public Service Commission to charge its customers higher rates to recover the cost of building the plant. The third unit will burn coal and pet coke, but Cleco says it is investigating using renewable biomass to power the plant as well.

In February 2010, the plant began operating.

Project Details
Sponsor: Cleco Power Location: Boyce, Louisiana Capacity: 600 MW (gross 660 MW) Type: Circulating fluidized bed Projected in service: 2009 Status: Construction

Financing

 * Bank of America
 * Goldman Sachs
 * Louisiana and coal
 * Carbon Capture and Storage
 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * US proposed coal plants (both active and cancelled)
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2007
 * Coal plants cancelled in 2008
 * State-by-state guide to information on coal in the United States (or click on the map)